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I nearly didn’t even open this book given to me by my mum because I thought it was about art, not realising it was a play on words… When I did open it, it immediately became my favourite book by Antonin Louchard… and I own a few: Monsieur Buvard, la promenade de Flaubert, Gribouillis gribouillons, Bouh! le livre qui fait le plus peur du monde to mention only a handful.
Language of text: French
Type of text: picture book
Author or source: Antonin Louchard
Intended age of students: Key Stage 3/4
Source reference: 9782226067135
Approaches:
This is a brilliant book which picks on some of the subjects taught at secondary school and comes up with a rhyme about them and their teachers.
As the teacher reads the book, the pupils in the 1st instance need to listen out for the subjects mentioned; during the second reading they can make a note of the rhymes on each page.
With more advance pupils I would let them try to guess the missing word on each double page: they can use the pictures as clues and the dictionaries to help with their answers, bearing in mind the last 2 lines have to rhyme.
Rationale:
I have selected this book this is the 1st time I have come across an authentic stories which can help introduce or revise school subjects and it does so in such a fun way!
Outcomes:
The children will enjoy the illustrations and the humour in the book. To make it more accessible, once the activities above have been completed, the teacher could choose one of the subjects of their choice to analyse more closely with their class and maybe even translate.
Most of the focus for the children will be on improving their knowledge of graphemes in French.
Topics or themes:
School, subjects, phonics
Grammar:
Past / present / future
How much time required:
1-2 lessons
You can buy it here on Amazon.
If you like this story by Antonin Louchard, you can also check out his other books which I have reviewed.

I do not know any other picture books which tackle school subjects; do you?
You can however read about my top 5 books about school here.